Memories of old East Rockaway

Ken Roemer’s mother, Mildred, former historian of East Rockaway, at left, on her trike with a friend in the early 1900s.

Courtesy Grist Mill Museum

A tricycle, similar that ridden by historian Mildred Roemer, is on display at the Grist Mill Museum in Memorial Park.

Courtesy Grist Mill Museum

Students who eventually became the ERHS classs of 1963 in front of Centre Avenue School as kindergarteners.

Courtesy Ralph Blanchette

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Old habits are hard to break
     We certainly grew up in what seems to have been a much less complex time and place. Even though I technically lived in Lynbrook, I was in East Rockaway school district so had the advantage of attending ERHS.
     Having gone to St. Raymond’s for 8 years, one of my surprises on starting at ERHS was realizing that other students did not stand up when called on or when an adult entered a class room — so it was easy to spot the former St. Raymond’s students in the first weeks of class — old habits took some time to break. 

     I also remember we girls were not allowed to wear slacks in school and skirts could not be more then an inch or so above the knee! And as I recall the guys had to tuck their shirts in. Dress codes certainly were stricter in the early ‘60s. 
Marcy Attfield Moreland

Small is beautiful
    In Texas, where I live now, I doubt I would have been third string football at best, a bench sitter. At East Rockaway High School, I got to play and had the opportunity to be in musicals, join clubs, throw a shotput around, try to get the ball through the hoop, and still try to be a good scholar. In the high schools today, people often get steroetyped as jocks or theater freaks or nerds. I could be a nerdy, singing, jock at ERHS!
    Someone once asked me, “Which had more impact on your development as a person, attending East Rockaway High School or Harvard?” And I answered, “The orange and black would win over the crimson.”

Ken (Kenny) Roemer
Now a professor and author at the University of Texas
at Arlington.